The local-express lane (also called collector–distributor lanes within a single interchange) system is an arrangement of roadways within a major highway where long distance traffic can use lanes with fewer interchanges compared to local traffic which use 'local' or 'collector' lanes that have access to all interchanges. Where highway ramps between express and local/collector lanes cross over another this is commonly known as braided ramps.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Given the considerable overall width of this design, new suburban freeways are often designed with interchanges spaced far enough apart to avoid the need for parallel roadways.

Illinois: Palatine Road between Illinois Route 53 and Sanders Road through the north suburbs of Chicago has grade-level express lanes, local lanes, and interchanges with the exception of the overpasses at Elmhurst Road and Milwaukee Avenue and an underpass at Wolf Road. It is not a freeway; instead it is called a "junior expressway".[10] Grade-level intersections require vehicles to execute left hook turns from the outer local lanes.

Nebraska: West Dodge Road (U.S. Route 6) in Omaha, Nebraska, becomes a controlled-access freeway (the West Dodge Freeway) at westbound 93rd Street with elevated local-express lanes that allow drivers to bypass the 114th and 120th Street intersections. The express lanes are known locally as the West Dodge Expressway.

Nevada: Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, Nevada, between Russell Road and Sahara Avenue (opened to traffic October 2009) and between Blue Diamond Road and Russell Road (northbound opened to traffic November 2011 and southbound currently under construction).

A cloverleaf interchange may have collector–distributor lanes on a freeway or expressway to handle entering and exiting traffic. Usually, this lane will begin as an entrance-only ramp initially, but it will sometimes become a main lane or possibly an exit-only lane. The purpose of this lane is to facilitate traffic to the freeway exits and from the freeway entrances.